Baghdad, Iraq

The novel takes place in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, during the chaotic period of the second American Iraq War after the overthrow of President Saddam Hussein in 2003. The city is plagued by terrorist attacks (the novel begins with two car bombings and ends with a third), usually perpetrated by religious extremists. The government is in a transitional period in which power is shared by the American military and an American-established coalition. The author frequently alludes to the fact that Baghdad is not a safe place to be at this time, particularly with Elishva's daughters increasingly hysterical pleas for her to emigrate to Australia. Faraj is able to expand his real estate business during the upheaval by simply laying claim to abandoned buildings. There is no one in authority to prevent him from doing this. The Whatsitsname is a symbol of the terror (in many forms) experienced...